Act No. 138

Public Acts of 2005

Approved by the Governor

September 28, 2005

Filed with the Secretary of State

September 29, 2005

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2006

STATE OF MICHIGAN

93RD LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2005

Introduced by Senators Van Woerkom, Patterson, Cassis, Gilbert, Allen, Sanborn, Stamas, Hardiman, Birkholz, Bishop, Toy, Jelinek and Brown

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 601

AN ACT to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled "An act to provide a system of public instruction and elementary and secondary schools; to revise, consolidate, and clarify the laws relating to elementary and secondary education; to provide for the organization, regulation, and maintenance of schools, school districts, public school academies, intermediate school districts, and other public school entities; to prescribe rights, powers, duties, and privileges of schools, school districts, public school academies, intermediate school districts, and other public school entities; to provide for the regulation of school teachers and certain other school employees; to provide for school elections and to prescribe powers and duties with respect thereto; to provide for the levy and collection of taxes; to provide for the borrowing of money and issuance of bonds and other evidences of indebtedness; to establish a fund and provide for expenditures from that fund; to provide for and prescribe the powers and duties of certain state departments, the state board of education, and certain other boards and officials; to provide for licensure of boarding schools; to prescribe penalties; and to repeal acts and parts of acts," by amending section 1230a (MCL 380.1230a), as added by 1995 PA 83.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 1230a. (1) In addition to the criminal history check required under section 1230, the board of a school district or intermediate school district or the governing body of a public school academy or nonpublic school shall request the department of state police to conduct a criminal records check through the federal bureau of investigation on an applicant for, or an individual who is hired for, any full-time or part-time employment or who is assigned to regularly and continuously work under contract in any of its schools. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a board or governing body shall not employ an individual or allow an individual to regularly and continuously work under contract in any of its schools until after the board or governing body receives the results of the criminal records check. A board or governing body requesting a criminal records check under this section shall require the individual to submit his or her fingerprints to the department of state police for that purpose. The department of state police may charge a fee for conducting the criminal records check. A board or governing body shall require an individual to submit his or her fingerprints for the purposes of this section only at the time the individual initially applies for employment with the board or governing body or is initially employed by the board or governing body or is initially assigned to work under contract in any of its schools.

(2) If the board of a school district or intermediate school district or the governing body of a public school academy or nonpublic school determines it necessary to hire an individual for a particular school year during that school year or within 30 days before the beginning of that school year, the board or governing body may employ the individual as a conditional employee under this subsection without first receiving the results of the criminal records check under subsection (1) if all of the following apply:

(a) The board or governing body requests the criminal records check under subsection (1) before conditionally employing the individual.

(b) The individual signs a statement identifying all crimes for which he or she has been convicted, if any, and agreeing that, if the results of the criminal records check under subsection (1) reveal information that is inconsistent with the individual's statement, his or her employment contract is voidable at the option of the board or governing body. The department shall develop and distribute to districts and nonpublic schools a model form for the statement required under this subdivision. The department shall make the model form available to public school academies. A district, public school academy, or nonpublic school shall use the model form for the purposes of this subsection.

(3) If an individual is employed as a conditional employee under subsection (2) and the results of the criminal records check under subsection (1) reveal information that is inconsistent with the individual's statement under subsection (2), the board or governing body may void the individual's employment contract. If an employment contract is voided under this subsection, the individual's employment is terminated, a collective bargaining agreement that would otherwise apply to the individual's employment does not apply to the termination, and the district, public school academy, or nonpublic school or the board or governing body is not liable for the termination.

(4) For an applicant for a position as a substitute teacher, instead of requesting a criminal records check under subsection (1), a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school may use results received by another district, public school academy, or nonpublic school or maintained by the department to confirm that the individual does not have any criminal history. If that confirmation is not available, subsection (1) applies to the applicant.

(5) If an applicant is being considered for employment by more than 1 school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school and if the applicant agrees in writing to allow a district, public school academy, or nonpublic school to share the results of the criminal records check with another district, public school academy, or nonpublic school, then a district, public school academy, or nonpublic school may satisfy the requirements of subsection (1) by obtaining a copy of the results of the criminal records check from another district, public school academy, or nonpublic school.

(6) An applicant for employment shall give written consent at the time of application for the criminal records division of the department of state police to conduct the criminal records check required under this section.

(7) A school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school shall make a request to the department of state police for a criminal records check under this section on a form and in a manner prescribed by the department of state police.

(8) The results of a criminal records check under this section shall be used by a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school only for the purpose of evaluating an individual's qualifications for employment or assignment in the position for which he or she has applied or been assigned and for the purposes of subsections (3), (4), and (5). A member of the board of a district or of the governing body of a public school academy or nonpublic school or an employee of a district, public school academy, or nonpublic school shall not disclose those results, except any felony conviction or a misdemeanor conviction involving sexual or physical abuse, to any person who is not directly involved in evaluating the individual's qualifications for employment or assignment. However, for the purposes of subsections (4) and (5), a person described in this subsection may provide a copy of the results under subsection (1) concerning the individual to an appropriate representative of another district, public school academy, or nonpublic school. A person who violates this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000.00, but is not subject to the penalties under section 1804.

(9) Within 30 days after receiving a proper request by a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school for a criminal records check on an individual under this section, the criminal records division of the department of state police shall initiate the criminal records check through the federal bureau of investigation. After conducting the criminal records check required under this section for a school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy, the criminal records division of the department of state police shall provide the results of the criminal records check to the district or public school academy. After conducting the criminal records check required under this section for a nonpublic school, the criminal records division of the department of state police shall notify the nonpublic school of whether or not the criminal records check disclosed any criminal history that is not disclosed in the report on the individual provided to the nonpublic school under section 1230.

(10) If the results received by a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school under subsection (9) disclose that an individual has been convicted of a listed offense, then the school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school shall not employ the individual in any capacity, as provided under section 1230c, and shall not allow the individual to regularly and continuously work under contract in any of its schools. If the results received by a school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school under subsection (9) disclose that an individual has been convicted of a felony other than a listed offense, then the school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school shall not employ the individual in any capacity or allow the individual to regularly and continuously work under contract in any of its schools unless the superintendent or chief administrator and the board or governing body of the school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school each specifically approve the employment or work assignment in writing.

(11) As used in this section, "listed offense" means that term as defined in section 2 of the sex offenders registration act, 1994 PA 295, MCL 28.722.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect January 1, 2006.

Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect unless all of the following bills of the 93rd Legislature are enacted into law:

(a) Senate Bill No. 609.

(b) Senate Bill No. 611.

(c) House Bill No. 4402.

(d) House Bill No. 4928.

(e) House Bill No. 4930.

(f) House Bill No. 4991.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Secretary of the Senate

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Approved

Governor